


Perfectly Abnormal

by CentralCrasis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dudley Dursley Has a Magical Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:54:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CentralCrasis/pseuds/CentralCrasis
Summary: Dudley's daughter receives a letter and Harry comes to visit
Relationships: Dudley Dursley & Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 86





	Perfectly Abnormal

Dudley wasn't all that surprised when a letter addressed to his daughter arrived on her eleventh birthday. Of course, he hadn't been completely certain until this very moment, but the sneaking suspicion had been there for a long time now.

When Daisy was only 2, he noticed that her favorite stuffed toy never seemed to get dirty. She would drag her little green bear through the mud, get food on it, drool on it at night, and yet it was never in need of a washing. It was as pristine as the day they'd bought it for her. When she was 5, during a particularly bad temper tantrum, the glass cups that had been sitting on the table shattered. His wife wrote it off as coincidence, but Dudley wasn't sure. It reminded him a little too much of the incident with his Aunt Marge so many years ago. When she was 8, he caught her talking to invisible things. At first he thought she was playing pretend, but when he looked in her room she had none of her toys nearby. He asked her who she was talking to and Daisy gave him a wide smile. "Just the nargles, Daddy." Dudley was relieved it hadn't been a snake. When she was 10, he saw her playing with the flowers in the back garden. She would touch the blooms and giggle as they closed shut, then with another touch they would explode open again, shooting tiny sparks out of their centers. After that, Dudley felt nearly certain that his daughter was a witch. The letter in his hand now only confirmed it.

He recognized it the moment he saw it, near identical ones having littered Number 4 Privet Drive when he was eleven. Daisy wasn't awake yet when the thick envelope slid through the letterbox. Dudley was thankful for this, knowing that his life was suddenly about to become far more complicated, something he hadn't fully prepared for yet.

His wife, Gemma, knew that he'd had an interesting childhood. Dudley wasn't sure that he could call it bad, but it certainly hadn't been the picturesque one his parents liked to pretend that he'd had. Gemma knew of Harry, but only in the vaguest of notions. His parents certainly never spoke about his cousin to anyone and Dudley only did when she pulled it out of him. It was a sore topic, one that embarrassed him deeply even all these years later.

Dudley brought the letter into the living room and showed it to Gemma. He figured he might as well try to explain it to her before Daisy woke up, he knew it was a lot to take in.

***

Gemma had taken it in stride, better than Dudley had even expected. All the pieces of their daughter's odd behaviors throughout the years suddenly slid into place. Gemma seemed relieved to have an explanation for it all.

When they heard footsteps from upstairs, Dudley hastily promised to tell Gemma more later, about his parents and Harry. This clearly piqued her interest, as he'd never brought up those topics so willingly before.

***

Daisy was so excited by the news that Dudley was certain something magical was bound to happen any second. He could practically feel the house thrumming with her energy. He didn't feel scared though; he felt excited, _proud._ His daughter could make the room feel electric just by being happy, wasn't that something to marvel at?

Dudley's mind turned dark as he watched his daughter excitedly read through her letter, thinking of Harry and how he'd been treated when his letter came. Looking back on it, he wasn’t really sure why his parents fought it as hard as they did. Harry would be learning magic sure, but for them it was a good nine months with him out of the house. It seemed an even enough trade, especially since Harry wasn't supposed to do magic outside of school. 

At the time it had seemed a good trade to Dudley too. When Harry was out of the house there was always far less yelling. He didn't have to explain away any of his cousin's odd behaviors or outbursts to anyone. Best of all, Dudley could do whatever he pleased without the third pair of eyes on him.

As Daisy began to read about the kind of animals permitted at Hogwarts, another owl arrived at their window. It sat on the sill and tapped the pane with its beak, looking expectantly inside the house. Gemma and Daisy stared at the large, nocturnal bird in shock and confusion.

“Owls, it’s how wizards send letters and packages to each other,” Dudley explained, walking over to the window. He'd never forgotten the large snowy owl Harry had come home with after his first year at Hogwarts. He'd liked watching it fly when his father let Harry give the bird some exercise.

He opened the window and took the letter from the bird’s offered leg. He was confused when it didn’t immediately fly off, but instead turned its head at him seemingly waiting for something. Dudley shrugged at the owl, not sure of what it wanted and looked at the letter in his hands.

His own name was written on the front in a messy scrawl. Maybe Hogwarts sent the parents a letter too? But then only his name was on this, not Gemma’s, and the handwriting was nothing close to the beautiful calligraphy on his daughter’s letter. Breaking the seal, Dudley opened the letter and breathed in sharply when he realized who it was from.

_Dudley,_

_I know that this letter may not be welcome, but it felt necessary to write. I heard about your daughter’s acceptance into Hogwarts. If you’re willing, I’d like to meet to discuss it with you. Please send your reply back with the owl. Please just let me know where you’d like to meet, write the address in your reply. I can meet this afternoon._

_Harry Potter_

“Dudley, are you okay? Who’s the letter from?” Gemma asked, moving from the couch and over towards him.

He could barely get the words out. “From him, from Harry.” Gemma looked at him, surprised.

“What does he want?”

“He wants to meet.” Dudley went in search of a pen and paper, leaving the letter with Gemma.

He quickly wrote a yes and his address on the scrap sheet of paper he managed to scrounge up and tied it to the owl’s leg. As it flew off, he wondered how on earth the owl knew where to fly.

“Daddy?” Dudley heard his daughter’s voice behind him. He turned to face her. “Who’s Harry?”

Dudley crouched down in front of her and gave her a big smile. “He’s daddy’s cousin, and he’s a wizard.”

***

Daisy couldn’t contain her excitement it seemed. She was bouncing off the walls (not literally yet) and asking Dudley as many questions as she could about Harry. Dudley didn’t answer them all, not knowing the answers to many, but that did nothing to deter her. 

He wasn’t quite sure of what to think. It had been so long since they had last seen each other and they’d never had a particularly good relationship. It was clear from the letter Harry thought Dudley felt the same about magic as his parents had, terrified and bigoted. He didn’t though. He could admit magic still scared him a bit, but he was proud of his daughter. He didn’t need Harry to come around to decide that he wanted to send Daisy to Hogwarts.

To distract himself, Dudley went into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for his family. He’d feel better with a bit of bacon and eggs in his stomach he thought.

Gemma had begun nervously picking up the house, seemingly suddenly aware of the state it was in. She and Dudley had let things pile up a bit, but they’d both been so busy lately. Late nights at work or taking Daisy to her extracurriculars had pushed cleaning the house to the wayside. Petunia would have fainted if she knew the last time they'd properly vacuumed.

The rest of the morning went on without incident. They ate, cleaned up, and gave Daisy her birthday presents. A sensible three new toys and some new clothes. No where near the 30 plus presents Dudley had gotten at her age. He’d figured out long ago that piles of presents weren’t good replacements for true thought and affection.

It wasn’t until one o’clock struck that Dudley became hyper-aware of each passing minute. Harry had said the afternoon, but when in the afternoon? Early? Late? Dudley wished he’d just given a concrete time.

Gemma seemed to sense Dudley’s nervous mind and settled in beside him on the couch, watching their daughter play with her new toys. She placed her head on his shoulder, stroking his hand with hers. “Are you okay, love?”

Dudley turned his head to look at her. “I’m not sure. I’m excited to see him, it’s been so long, but I’m dead scared too.” 

Gemma didn’t say anything. She knew Dudley well. Sometimes he just needed a bit of time to get out his thoughts.

“I, well I wasn’t very nice to Harry growing up. My parents treated him terribly and I never knew any different. That’s not much of an excuse as I got older, but I wasn’t much for introspection then.” They each chuckled a bit at that. Dudley hadn’t been one for introspection until Gemma had entered his life and they both knew it.

“I’m not expecting forgiveness from him, but I hope he can accept my apology. It’s long overdue.”

Gemma gave Dudley’s hand a firm squeeze. “You’re both men now, I know I don’t know the specifics, but if he’s half the man you are now he’ll be able to see that you’ve changed.”

Dudley smiled at his wife. She really was better than he deserved. He kissed the top of her head and looked back towards his daughter, a little calmer than before.

***

The doorbell rang at 2:30 in the afternoon. Daisy looked between the door and her parents brimming with excitement. “Is that him?”

Dudley didn’t answer but stood and went to the door, Gemma staying with Daisy in the living room. Taking a deep breath, Dudley opened the front door wide.

For a moment, Dudley didn’t recognize the man standing before him. He was taller, less skinny than Dudley remembered. A beard had filled in on his face, nicely trimmed and cared for. He stood confidently, no longer the scared boy from the past. When he met his eyes though, Dudley was sure this was Harry standing before him. He still was sporting the round style of glasses he’d had growing up, and the lightning scar on his forehead was still there beneath his unruly black hair. The only real difference was the few flecks of gray Dudley could see beginning to show along the temples.

He knew he didn’t recognize the short red-headed woman beside Harry, but from the firm grasp she had on Harry’s hand, Dudley could surmise that it was his wife. She was pretty, with deep brown eyes and a smattering of attractive freckles across her face. Dudley suddenly remembered the family of red-heads Harry had been friends with growing up and wondered if she had any connection to them.

Clearing his throat, he gave what he hoped was a friendly smile, and offered his hand. “Hello, Harry. Been a long time.”

Harry gave him an odd look, but shook his hand. “It sure has been, Dudley.”

After another awkward moment, Dudley stepped away from the door. “Please come in, I’d love to introduce you to my family.”

Harry hesitated to move. His wife gave him a quick elbow in the side and he seemed to come to his senses. Dudley thought it was funny, at least Harry was just as nervous as he was about this.

He led the couple into the living room, where Gemma and Daisy were waiting for them. As they entered the room Gemma stood and walked over to them. “Hello, I’m Gemma, Dudley’s wife, it’s a pleasure to meet you both.” She shook both of their hands.

Harry seemed confused by the warm reception. “Er, I’m Harry, and this is my wife, Ginny.”

Daisy hadn’t moved from her spot on the carpet. She had clearly figured out that this situation wasn’t exactly normal. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her parents act this way before. She heard Gemma say her name and offered a friendly wave to the two visitors. They didn’t look very magical. In fact, they looked quite normal. Daisy felt a little disappointed at this revelation.

Gemma offered them a seat and tea, both of which were graciously accepted. The tension in the room was tangible. Harry seemed to be doing his best to look anywhere other than Dudley, while Ginny seemed to be laser focused on him and nothing else. Dudley wasn’t sure if he should say something first or not. After a few more moments passed, he decided speaking couldn’t hurt.

“Harry -”

“Dudley -”

They’d both gone to speak at the same moment. Finally Harry met his eye. “You go first,” he offered.

Dudley gave him an appreciative nod. “Daisy will be going to Hogwarts.”

Harry seemed thoroughly shocked at this proclamation. Thankfully, Gemma returned at that moment with the tea and gave the wizard a moment to process what Dudley had just said. 

Harry was first to speak again. “Dudley, I - I have to to confess, I came here expecting to have to convince you that she should go.”

“Well why shouldn’t she? She is a witch after all,” Gemma said confidently. 

Dudley couldn’t help but enjoy watching his cousin as the gears turned in his head. Harry had come here expecting a fight. Clearly, he hadn’t prepared for the idea that Dudley might want Daisy to go. Dudley was a little chuffed with himself, pleased to have been able to prove Harry wrong.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other, confused for a moment, but then both began to smile. Just then, the tension in the room seemed to dissolve almost entirely.

“I can’t tell you how relieved we are to hear that,” Ginny said. “He brought me as backup.”

Harry snorted into his tea. “I did not! You wanted to come for moral support.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Ginny didn’t seem flustered in the slightest and took a sip of her tea.

Daisy’s voice suddenly piped up from the carpet. “Uncle Harry, can you tell me more about Hogwarts?”

Dudley expected Harry to be shocked by being called uncle. He didn’t know that ‘Uncle Harry’ was one of the names he was called most often now. Harry didn’t miss a beat and smiled at Daisy. “What would you like to know?”

***

Harry and Ginny ended up staying for dinner, answering any and all of the questions they had about Hogwarts and the Wizarding World. Dudley learned that Harry had actually taken a teaching position at the school, and was apparently a father to three of his own children. Ginny, he learned, was part of the red-headed family Dudley had remembered, the only girl out of seven. No wonder she seemed so formidable.

The excitement of the day combined with a filling meal brought sleep early to Daisy. Dudley brought her up to bed, tucking her in tight and kissing her forehead. There was a tiny part of him that couldn’t quite believe it, his own daughter, a witch. What were the chances?

He could hear Ginny and Gemma laughing as he came back down the stairs. The two of them had begun to get along famously, each taking opportunities to poke fun at the men they’d married. Gemma was a bit softer than Ginny, but just as sharp and playful when she wanted to be. He was surprised to see Harry waiting for him at the bottom of the staircase, not in the living room with their wives.

“I wondered if I might have a word, in private.”

Dudley nodded his head and took Harry to the back garden, where they could both sit on the small patio furniture. Luckily, it was a warm June evening and the bugs hadn’t really started to come out yet.

Harry ran his hands through his hair and pushed his glasses up his nose. Some things never changed, Dudley supposed. He could remember those nervous movements from his cousin from when they were kids. 

Unfortunately, he’d mostly seen them when his parents had been yelling at Harry for things that may or may not have been his fault. A lingering sense of guilt washed over Dudley. He couldn’t excuse that behavior from his parents anymore. He knew they were dreadful, especially towards Harry.

He waited for Harry to speak first. He'd been the first to go earlier, it was Harry's turn now.

"I'm relieved, Dudley." Harry finally said.

Dudley still didn't say anything, instead opting for an inquisitive look. 

"I expected the worst. I thought I was going to have to convince you to let Daisy go. I was barely even expecting you to agree to meet me today. I'm glad things didn't turn out that way." Harry gave Dudley a hopeful smile.

Dudley gave him a small smile in return and looked away. It was his turn now and he didn't feel quite brave enough to look at Harry while he spoke. 

"I never hated you Harry, not really. I know I tormented you and made your life a living hell, but I really didn't know any better and by the time I did, well, it was too late. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I do hope you'll understand." Dudley turned to look at Harry now. "I'm sorry Harry."

Dudley couldn't be certain, but in the low lighting it certainly looked like Harry's eyes had gotten misty. "Thanks, Big D."

Both he and Harry shared a look and laughed. The last of the tension had dissolved between them. After an afternoon and evening spent together, with the apology finally spoken, Dudley and Harry were able to see each other in a new light. No longer as weighed down by the actions and mistakes of the past. 

"Do they know yet?" Harry asked, the implication as to who _they_ were abundantly clear. 

"No." Dudley replied.

"When uh, when are you going to tell them? I could-"

Dudley cut Harry off. "I won't be telling them, Harry. They died."

Harry looked like Dudley had hit him for a moment and quickly regained his composure. "I- I'm," Harry couldn't quite seem to get out the word 'sorry'. Dudley didn't blame him. "When?" Harry settled on instead.

"About eight years ago. I'd gotten into a fight with Dad about my career change. I was leaving his company. He'd gotten me the job there but I never liked it, it was just a way to put food on the table really."

Harry was listening intently.

"They left in the middle of dinner. Mum said something to me about calming him down, that they'd be back over tomorrow to talk again. They were halfway home when a drunk driver hit them. Ironic, isn't it? After all those years telling you that's how your parents died, that's how they went." 

Dudley looked over at Harry. He wasn't prepared to see his cousin looking at him, genuinely saddened. "I'm sorry, Dudley."

Dudley shook his head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. Just shit luck really. It makes this easier though, one less fight to have with them, don't you think?"

Harry simply nodded his head.

"The funeral was small. I would have told you, I just didn't know how to contact you." Dudley admitted sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think you all wanted anything to do with me after everything."

Dudley gave a dry laugh. "Well they certainly didn't. Never spoke about you again actually. I wouldn't have minded as much."

Harry gave him a genuine smile. "You're alright now, Big D."

"You aren't bad either, Scarface."

***

Harry and Ginny left soon after. It was getting late, and although their kids had been left with Ginny's family, they needed to be on their way.

Gemma hugged them both, while Dudley offered handshakes. He wasn't sure he and Harry would ever hug, and he wasn't quite sure Ginny trusted him yet. That was okay. They had plenty of time to get to know each other now.

They made promises to meet in August at Diagon Alley for school shopping, wherever that was, and they left. Dudley watched them walk down the street, arm in arm, and suddenly disappear with a loud crack.

He shut the door and glanced up the stairs, where his daughter slept. He was so proud of her and he couldn't wait to learn about the new world that awaited her. She would always be the reason he got to see Harry again, would be able to actually act like family towards him, eventually.


End file.
